Tell y’all a quick Christmas Season story about this picture—

On December 3, 2019 after about 9 months of training classes and a couple months of prayerful waiting, we got our first foster placement. A newborn baby boy. We drove to the hospital and brought him home straight from there. He was so little he could sit in the palm of my hand with room to grow.

The days that followed were surreal. Sleepless nights awakened us to the fact that 1) we’re not as young as we use to be 😆 and 2) This little man had our heart in ways we couldn’t describe or control 😳.

Foster parenting by definition is temporary. You can imagine the thoughts we had. We didn’t know what his future held or how long we’d have him. Another day? A week? Maybe a year? But amid all the uncertainties and exhaustion, there was also an unexplainable joy. The kind of joy that you only get when you’re in the middle of something completely nuts but you know it’s also right where God wants you to be.

The rest of December 2019 was a blur for us. Christmas morning came, and as gift to Casey I’d printed off some pictures of her and the baby boy, who was still less than a month old. No big deal right? Just a few pictures printed at CVS 😆 She opened the gift and looked at me and we locked eyes and both instantly teared up, hugged for a while, and just had a moment while our other 4 kids looked on.

In hindsight it was a moment of clarity. For Casey and I, having actual printed pictures meant a lot. Regardless of what happened going forward, this little man was a part of us, forever. We were preserving these memories and hanging on. We were all in with this journey. Not knowing what the future held, those simple printed pictures were a tangible expression of our commitment to him, together.

A year and a couple months later, by God’s grace, Luka’s adoption was final. God knew all along. Those pictures will always hold special significance and make for some precious Christmas memories for us.

Luka turned 2 this month. What a journey. What an amazing God. What a gift. What a Christmas 🎄 ✝️ 🙏🏼